Hogwarts Outsider Chapter 49: Dinner

"Garlic?" Cormac McLaggen's strange words instantly attracted the attention of another student from the Slug Club who was sitting next to Matthew.

"I hate garlic the most!" He frowned and muttered over there.

But soon, he also smelled the strong smell of garlic in McLaggen's mouth, and quickly shrank back.

"Hello!" Matthew glanced at the boy sitting beside him, and said proactively.

The boy was thin and looked slightly nervous. He smiled unnaturally.

"Matthew, this is Marcus Belby, a second-year Ravenclaw!" Neville quickly introduced, "Belby, this is Matthew Wakefield, a first-year Slytherin."

"Hello, Wakefield, and Longbottom." Belby said in a low voice.

"Good evening, Belby." Neville also nodded at him.

After greeting each other briefly, Neville moved closer to Matthew's ear and explained softly:

"McLaggen's father, David McLaggen, worked at the Ministry of Magic and was on good terms with Minister Millicent Barnold; and Belby's uncle, Mr Damocles Belby, was a well-known He is an expert in Potions and the inventor of Wolfsbane Potion, for which he was awarded the Order of Merlin..."

……

Matthew could tell that the students around the round table he was in were basically the children of famous and successful people, as well as children of families with good interpersonal relationships in the magic world.

Or rather, everyone here seems to be invited because of their kinship with some influential personage. Like Neville, McLaggen and Belby. If Draco Malfoy hadn't been wounded into the school hospital, he would be here too.

On the other hand, students with ordinary background and outstanding talents can hardly see...

For example, Ravenclaw's Hermione Granger, she has made her mark in Hogwarts in the past month, and almost all the teachers like her very much, thinking that she is the best student in the first year. Of course, this is also related to her more publicity, while Matthew is more low-key.

And Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff's third year. Although Matthew has never been in contact with him, judging from the evaluation of him by some second and third graders, he is also well-deserved the best student in the same grade.

However, none of them received an invitation from Slughorn, nor did they appear in the Slug Club.

Of course, on the other long table of the senior grades, you can see a few students from ordinary backgrounds but with outstanding talents... For example, Matthew can recognize Percy Wayne from the fifth grade of Gryffindor. Sly (with the family conditions of the Weasley family, it is almost impossible for him to get here by that).

Perhaps Professor Horace Slughorn has completely different evaluation criteria for senior and junior students whether they can join his inner circle.

Then I am quite honored, the first grade can receive this invitation!

Matthew smiled self-deprecatingly, but his expression soon became serious.

He frowned, thinking——

Why did Slughorn treat himself differently?

Is it just because of his excellent performance in Potions class?

"Matthew!" Neville asked with concern from the side: "What's the matter, your face is a bit ugly?"

"It's nothing." Matthew quickly stretched his brows and responded with a smile: "It's just that I'm not used to the style here."

A smile suddenly appeared on Neville's face: "It seems that we feel the same!"

……

The members of the Slug Club arrived one after another and sat down at two round tables, and the dinner began soon.

There were a lot of golden plates in front of everyone, but there was no food in them, but Matthew noticed that there was a small menu in the place closest to him.

He picked up his menu, which had various items written on it; he looked around again, but did not find the waiter.

"You should do this." Neville reminded in a low voice.

Then he also picked up his menu, looked at his plate, and said very clearly: "Hungarian goulash!"

A serving of beef immediately appeared on his plate.

Matthew suddenly realized, and quickly followed suit, ordering his favorite food on the plate.

I have to say that the food at Slughorn's dinner is much more refined than the usual school dinner; it seems that the head of Slytherin is quite particular about eating and drinking.

But throughout the dinner, most of Slughorn's energy was devoted to the students in the senior room.

At the table of the lower grades, he just took a glass of mead and came over here during the banquet... and motioned to them to "toast Professor Grindelwald's health".

Everyone naturally raised their glasses to respond.

To be honest, the taste of mead is a bit weird, like the taste of rotten apples.

Matthew felt a little overwhelmed by the smell.

And the old slug club members around me seem to have gotten used to it.

……

While eating his share of lamb chops, Matthew listened to the people around him chatting——

Most of them are trivial.

For example, Marcos Belby was chatting with another student beside him about an interesting incident that happened in the history of magic class of the second grade some time ago.

The two girls opposite Matthew were chatting about the latest attack——

"Draco Malfoy will be discharged from the hospital soon, and the extreme magic expert invited by Professor Rozier will come to Hogwarts next week; maybe Ronald Weasley will also be able to join him by the way Discharged from the hospital...these two attacks are nothing serious, and there is nothing to be afraid of at all."

On the other side, Cormac McLaggen and Blaise Zabini have put down the cutlery and started yelling loudly:

"If you ask my grandfather Thierry, his body can be said to be amazing, and now he can still eat two catties of steak for a meal... except for his left shoulder, which was left by him during the First Wizarding War. The old wound was left by a dark wizard. There is no way, because of the injury there, he has to spend two months in St. Mungo's every year to recuperate." McLaggen shouted loudly.

Matthew couldn't help pricking up his ears, and began to distinguish McLaggen's voice from the messy music and discussions.

"My grandfather Thierry, he can be said to be the first batch of supporters of Principal Grindelwald in England... Before that, the British magic world can be said to be a dark environment, ruled by dark wizards ...Whether it's Leonard Moon, the Minister of Magic, or Armando Dippet, the headmaster of Hogwarts... Of course, there is also the nemesis in the destiny of Headmaster Grindelwald, the dark wizard Albus Dumbledore Lido...my grandfather was the first British wizard who saw through their true colors, and then swore allegiance to Principal Grindelwald!"

Neville Longbottom happened to be a little anxious, and left his seat to go to the bathroom.

Matthew took the opportunity to lean towards Cormac McLaggen.

"Then Cormac, you must know a lot about the First Wizarding War from your grandfather!" Matthew asked kindly while taking advantage of the gap between words.

Apparently, Cormac McLaggen didn't mind having an extra audience.

"That's natural!" He replied triumphantly: "I grew up next to my grandfather when I was a child, and he often told me stories about his youth before I went to bed... These things are yours in history. In the book, I can't find it at all, after all, Bathilda Bagshot's "History of Magic" was only compiled until the end of the 19th century."

Matthew immediately made a very curious and admiring expression, which made McLaggen very useful.

However, McLaggen's voice soon became slightly smaller:

"That was in 1945. For Principal Grindelwald, the situation at that time could be said to be at a critical moment... At that time, the dark wizards in Britain, including Leonard Moon, Armando Dippet , and of course their real leader, Albus Dumbledore, colluded with a huge Muggle force..."

"...and not only in the United Kingdom, but also in the United States, the Soviet Union, and France in exile, many innocent wizards were bewitched by Dumbledore. They united with the local Muggle government to form a Extremely terrifying power!"

"Although Principal Grindelwald also supported his Muggle government spokesman in Germany at that time, he was not Dumbledore's opponent at all. They were retreating steadily..."

"... Finally on May 10, 1945, Principal Grindelwald had to stand up, and at the top of the Reichstag in Berlin, he had a legendary duel with Albus Dumbledore !”

"My grandfather was lucky enough to be there and watched the duel. According to his description, the duel lasted for a day and a night, and its intensity was beyond his cognition; so that at the end, they couldn't see clearly What the **** happened!"

"In the end, Grindelwald won?" Matthew asked seriously.

"That's natural!" McLaggen replied without thinking: "At the last moment, Principal Grindelwald turned the tide and saved our magical world... With the defeat of Albus Dumbledore, the entire The backbone of the anti-witch forces has been interrupted by us..."

"Principal Grindelwald announced this to the world, and at the same time he converted Nurmengard's fortress into a prison and locked Albus Dumbledore in the tallest tower there; In order to prevent prison robbery or escape, he arranged the most complex and powerful defensive magic on that tower!"

"It's a pity that although Principal Grindelwald won the final victory, with the final defeat of his supporting forces in the Muggle world, what he planned before the First Wizarding War - about provoking the Muggles The war, the strategy of making wizards completely over Muggles, is completely bankrupt..."

"... At the same time, Albus Dumbledore's supporters are still all over Europe, especially in England, especially in Hogwarts at that time, and especially in Hogwarts at that time Gryffindor College... At that time, the dark wizard Dumbledore had the prestige no less than, or even slightly stronger than, Principal Grindelwald!"

"In order to completely eliminate Dumbledore's influence, Principal Grindelwald came to England. My grandfather Thierry McLaggen was the most loyal supporter of Lord Grindelwald at that time, especially in the sixties , During his tenure as the Senior Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Magic, he helped Lord Grindelwald a lot..."

"...Of course, the influence of the dark wizard Dumbledore can be said to be deeply rooted. Principal Grindelwald and my grandfather faced many troubles and dealt with many rebellions... After almost thirty years It took more time for the British wizarding world to be completely deprived of Dumbledore's influence, and for the wizarding world to get on the right track!"

McLaggen seemed a little parched after such a long speech.

He picked up a glass of pumpkin juice on the table, and drank it "ton ton".

"Then..." After hesitating for a moment, Matthew asked softly, "The dark wizard, Albus Dumbledore, is he dead?"

"Not yet." McLaggen shook his head: "Principal Grindelwald has always been a very kind person, especially when he was young, he had an extremely close relationship with Dumbledore; so he just Imprison Dumbledore, hoping that one day he will find his way back."

"So what about the influence of the dark wizard Dumbledore?" Matthew continued to ask: "It has completely disappeared now!"

"It has basically disappeared on the surface~IndoMTL.com~ Most of his supporters have been thrown into Azkaban." McLaggen replied: "But secretly, there are still many dark wizards who follow loyally Follow him, and at the same time try to subvert the new magical world system established by Principal Grindelwald.”

"Then after the first wizard war fifty years ago did not achieve complete victory..." Matthew asked again: "Has Grindelwald given up on his previous plan?"

"Of course not." McLaggen said mysteriously: "Otherwise, what do you think Master Grindelwald has been busy with all these years?"

Neville Longbottom returned, and Matthew returned to his seat.

As for McLaggen, he started discussing with Zabini about the golf game between the bookshelf family and Minister Barnold's family.

……

The dinner ended quickly, but Matthew couldn't find the time to be alone with Professor Slughorn.

After everyone left the Potions teacher's office one after another, he turned back.

Because he "forgot" his watch on the dining table.

"Oh, Wakefield, why are you back?" Horace Slughorn asked in surprise.

His little feet rested on a large velvet cushion, and his plump figure, half reclining in a comfortable winged armchair, held a small glass of wine in one hand and the other in the other. Hands picking through a box of pineapple preserves.

"Sorry, professor, I forgot my watch here." Matthew said softly.

"Okay, kid." Slughorn nodded: "Forgetfulness is not a good habit."

"And..." Matthew got his watch and hesitated for a moment:

"Sir, I want to ask you something."